Kendra's Kampfire

Friday, October 19, 2018

Zoo Day!

We can check another first off Miles' List! Mike had the day off so we spontaneously decided to take a trip to the Oakland Zoo, and we had such a great day! It had been about 12 years since I had last been, so I was excited to go back, even more so with our little one in tow! Now, I know he is so young, that he couldn't really enjoy it, but it's my goal to get outside with him every day, so it was a great way to expose him to someplace new!

I love my boys

We only stayed a couple hours, but it was a perfect amount of time for us. We walked around the original zoo, and we got lucky to watch a monkey swing from tree to tree for a long time! Miles was definitely interested in watching that! Then we headed up to the new portion of the zoo, and it was so cool! The gondola ride was really fun, and it was so cool to look over the bay-it really made me stop and think how incredibly grateful we are to live in such a beautiful place.

Posing with the Bald Eagle

Gondola Ride!

The only bummer was that most of the animals up top were not in their enclosures. So we didn't get to see the wolves, the black bears, or the grizzly bears, which Mike was really looking forward to seeing. We were able to see a mountain lion climb a tree and hop from branch to branch which was pretty cool.

I've waited for so long to be able to baby wear my own child, so grateful

After we hung out up top for a bit, we headed back down to see the giraffes and baboons, which was fun because there were a bunch of babies running around and playing! Then we decided to stop by for some In N Out and head back home. It was a really great morning and just made me so thankful for this life God has given me to live.

My heart

Howdy Texas!

Well. We survived. We all survived Miles' first plane ride. And he did amazing! I think Mike and I were more nervous about what other people would think rather than actually stressing about traveling. And he did so well. I was one proud mama.

Getting ready for take off!

We made it!!

We had friends who were getting married in San Antonio, so Mike decided to take a couple days off so we could make a mini vacation out of it. We flew out of Oakland on Thursday afternoon, and friends, it is crazy how much stuff you have to pack when traveling with an infant. I think I literally packed almost every piece of clothing that Miles currently fits in, because I wanted to make sure we had enough! And looking back, I DEFINITELY overpacked, but I would rather have more than I needed than run out and be outta luck. I will try to do a post on everything we packed in the diaper bag, because I tried to be as organized as possible and it definitely helped!

Waiting for Daddy to get our rental car

First time being changed in the trunk of the car!

As soon as getting off the plane on Thursday night, we headed over to our friends house for a pre-wedding dinner and chowed on some grub before heading to our hotel. I was nervous about how Miles would do sleeping, because at this time, he was waking up every 2 hours at home, so I was hoping that Miles would be ok sleeping in a new place. And funny enough, he actually slept at night and napped better while we were gone than he did at home. I sent up a few grateful prayers over the course of the trip.

Snuggling with my boys

On Friday morning we got up, ate breakfast at the hotel, went back to the room and Miles took a nap-wahoo! Then after little man woke up, we headed to downtown San Antonio to check out the Alamo and River Walk. I will admit that I was a little uneducated when it came to the Alamo, because I was expecting it to be in the middle of nowhere. But when Mike pulled the car into a lot in the heart of downtown San Antonio, I was confused. But sure enough, we walked around a corner and there it was! The city has just been built up around it, which was both cool and weird. I mean, there was a Ripleys Believe It or Not Museum across the street from it, funny.

Exploring the Alamo

Behind the Church

Lunch at the River Walk

Such a Champ in the heat

Worn Out

After we checked out the Alamo, we spent some time at the River Walk and had lunch. And friends, for it being 85 degrees plus humidity, Miles did such a great job. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for naps, before we went out to dinner for some old fashioned Texas BBQ, and it was soooo yummy!

Nap Time!

Saturday we spent the day hanging out before heading to the wedding, where we spent the night eating and dancing with friends before heading back to the hotel.

My little family

Hanging with Grandpa

Making friends wherever he goes

Passed out in his stroller at the reception

Sunday we had brunch with family before heading back to home sweet home. And though it was a fun weekend, it felt really good to get my little family home safe and sound. First vacation as a Family of Three is in the books.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

MILEStones - Month 5

I can't believe our little man is 5 months old. In a blink of an eye, he's almost half a year! I'm not going to lie, this has been a tough month for us. The 4 month sleep regression hit us hard, and we were never able to fully recover. The majority of this month I was getting up every hour and a half to 2 hours at night, and it started a vicious cycle of me doing anything to get him to go back to sleep, and I know I was starting to create bad habits. But we are in the process of officially sleep training, so fingers crossed things start to improve soon!

One small thing I want to write down so I don't forget happened in the middle of the night during one of our multiple night wake ups. It was 4 am and I was at the point where I needed to do something to get this kid to sleep more than 60 minutes. So at 4 am I took him into our guest room and put him in his Dock - a - Tot. When we got settled, I gave him my finer to hold and he instantly fell asleep. I mean, instantly. It was the sweetest thing, and even though I was utterly exhausted, it completely melted my heart. He then slept for a solid 4 hours. I know it's a habit I won't continue, but I definitely want to remember his sweet little hand clutching my finger as he drifted off to sleep.